Dryland Grass Breeding for. Bruce Coulman Plant Sciences Department University of Saskatchewan

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1 Dryland Grass Breeding for the Canadian Prairies Bruce Coulman Plant Sciences Department University of Saskatchewan

2 Forage crop breeding in Canada Tame U. of S./AAFC Saskatoon (Bruce Coulman) AAFC Ste-Foy (Annie Classens) AAFC Lethbridge (Surya Acharya) AAFC Charlottetown (Y. Papadopoulos) Native AAFC Swift Current (Mike Schellenberg) Alberta Res Vegreville (Jay Woosaree)

3 Tame Dryland Grass Breeding in Western Canada U. of S./AAFC Saskatoon (Bruce Coulman) Native AAFC Swift Current (Mike Schellenberg)

4 Grass Breeding U. of S./AAFC Joint program Tame forage program Meadow brome Hybrid brome Crested wheatgrass Others Forage barley and oat

5 Bromegrass Breeding Meadow Hybrid

6 Smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis)

7 Meadow bromegra (Bromus riparius)

8 Hybrid bromegrass (B. riparius X B. inermis) B. Coulman

9 Meadow bromegrass breeding Recent new varieties Armada (2008) Improved seed and forage yield Seed available, 2012 Admiral (2009) Improved vigor and greenness in fall Seed available spring, 2013 Present program Expand genetic base Evaluate new accessions from world genebanks Further improvement in forage yield

10 Late September meadow brome growth Fall green selection Admiral Fleet B. Coulman

11 Hybrid bromegrass breeding Meadow X smooth bromegrass hybrid populations Original crosses made in late 1970s Dual purpose type of grass High first cut yield like smooth Fast regrowth like meadow brome

12 Characteristics of hybrid bromegrasses Are hybrid populations, not hybrid cultivars Seed production is same as for parental species Intermediate to the parental species in many characteristics Good hay production and regrowth Pubescent leaves and stems like meadow brome Reduced creeping habit like meadow brome

13 Regrowth After First Cut Smooth Hybrid Meadow B. Coulman

14 Hybrid brome varieties AC Knowles (2000) More meadow-brome like in appearance AC Success (2003) Similar performance to AC Knowles More smooth-brome like in appearance Hybrid backcrossed to smooth Good performance under drier conditions Poor performance under irrigation

15 Beef gains (kg/ha) 2000,01 Termuende, Sk grazing trial Crested wheat Smooth brome Meadow brome Hybrid brome Thompson et al Can. J. Anim. Sci. 83:165

16 Row spreading in three year old brome trial AC Success Hybrid Carlton Smooth

17 Future hybrid bromegrass breeding Continue selection in existing populations Expand adaptation to more humid regions New population (S9478) from crosses using southern type smooth brome parents Evaluations at five locations in Canada and the U.S. Presently in Western Forage Trials for possible release in two years

18 Crested wheatgrass breeding at Saskatoon AC Goliath in 2001 Tetraploid Agropyron cristatum Tall, large seeded, narrow crowned Newkirk in 2011 Intermediate between Goliath and Kirk Tall but with wider crown High yields in regional trials

19 Parkway AC Goliath Kirk (2X) (4X) (4X)

20 Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) AC Goliath (4N) AC Parkland (2n) B. Coulman

21 Other perennial grasses Timothy For compressed hay market Orchardgrass Winter hardiness New varieties Kootenay and Killarney (2007) Tall fescue Yield and winter hardiness Intermediate wheatgrass Biomass

22 Native grass breeding Program has focused on the development of pre-variety germplasm or ecological varieties (Ecovars TM ) Are genetically diverse populations adapted to western Canada Program originally led by Ducks Unlimited Canada Involvement of AAFC, U. of Manitoba and U. of Sask. Several ecovars have been released increased and marketed by Brett-Young Seeds Program now led by AAFC Swift Current (M. Schellenberg) U. of S./AAFC Saskatoon is also a collaborator

23 Species for which pre-variety germplasm is available Western wheatgrass Northern wheatgrass Green needlegrass Needle and thread grass Awned wheatgrass Little bluestem Nodding brome WR Poole AC Polar AC Mallard AC Sharptail AC Sprig & Pintail Taylor AC Marten Coulman et al Proc. 21 st Intern. Grassland Cong.

24 Awned wheatgrass seed production field

25 Meadow Brome Richardsons Brome days later Smooth brome

26 Under development Swift Current Northern wheatgrass Side-oats grama Prairie sandreed Bluebunch wheatgrass Saskatoon Nuttall s salt meadow grass Puccinellia Salt-tolerant, low maintenance turfgrass

27 Nuttall s Salt-Meadow Grass (Puccinellia)

28 Annual Forage Breeding Collaboration with CDC barley breeders Brian Rossnagel and Aaron Beattie Forage Barley Release (2011) of CDC Maverick smooth awned version of CDC Cowboy Forage Oats Release (2012) of CDC Haymaker similar to CDC Baler but higher yielding

29 CDC Maverick Forage Barley B. Coulman

30 CDC Minstrel Oats CDC Baler Oats B. Coulman

31 New initiatives - biomass Interest in using cellulosic biomass as energy source Ethanol Syn-gas Direct combustion Much interest in switchgrass in the U.S. Productivity and adaptation problems in much of western Canada Cool season grasses are usually more productive than warm season in western Canada

32 Grasses for Biomass Saskatoon, Species Variety Yield (t/ha) Tall wheatgrass Orbit 11.3 Intermediate Wheat Chief 10.1 Smooth bromegrass Signal 8.7 Crested wheatgrass AC Parkland 7.7 Slender wheatgrass Adanac 6.9 Meadow bromegrass Fleet 6.6 Western wheatgrass Walsh 6.0 Single cuts taken the third week of August

33 Biomass yields of selected grasses under irrigation at Outlook 2009, 2010 Grass species Variety Biomass Yield (tonnes DM/ha) Intermediate Chief 18.0 wheatgrass Switchgrass Sunburst 18.0 Switchgrass Dacotah 12.9 Big bluestem Southlow 10.3 Cuts taken the second week of October

34 The Future Looks Bright! Creation of Forage Breeding Chair at the University of Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Program Will recruit in fall of 2013.

35 Program Support Agriculture Development Fund, Sask. Ministry of Agriculture Alberta Beef Producers Beef Cattle Research Council Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada